Monday, November 29, 2004

Monkey Day in Lop Buri!

Lop Buri draws countless visitors each year to witness an enormous banquet in the Khmer ruins. None of them are allowed to partake, however, because the banquet is exclusively for monkeys.

Although overrun by them, the town is also rather proud of their monkeys who inhabit the local Khmer ruins. An enterprising local hotelier decided to pull in the tourists by staging this extraordinary lunch for the 600-odd monkeys of Lopburi with napkins, Coca Cola and menus to boot. It now takes place every year. Just 17km from Lopburi along Highway 1 is the most important pilgrimage site in central Thailand, Wat Phra Phuttahabat, which is believed to house the Buddha's footprint; frequent buses from the Sakeo roundabout will take you there.